Overview

Lesson Procedure

65-75 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up10 minutes
2. Direct Instruction20 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15-20 minutes
5. Closure5-10 minutes

1. Warm-Up10 minutes

   Students write for three minutes, then compare answers in pairs. Take a few answers and list them in two columns: "strategies that work with people who hold power" and "strategies that confront them."

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "A student group wants the school to change a rule. One member says: 'Prove we are responsible first, and they will listen.' Another says: 'Waiting just lets them ignore us. Speak up now.' What would you need to know before you could decide who is right?"

   The last question matters most. Point out that a strong discussion does not stop at choosing a side: it probes the reasoning of each, looks for what both get right, and names the facts that would settle the rest. Tell students that SL.11-12.1 asks for exactly this, and that today's texts are one of the best-known disagreements in American history.

2. Direct Instruction20 minutes

   Part 1: What the standard asks. Present Diagram 2. SL.11-12.1 keeps the main sentence and part a of the grade 9-10 standard, then raises the bar: students promote civil, democratic discussion and decision-making and set goals, deadlines and roles (b); pose and respond to questions that probe reasoning and evidence, ensure a hearing for a full range of positions, clarify, verify or challenge, and promote divergent and creative perspectives (c); and synthesize claims and evidence on all sides, resolve contradictions when possible and decide what further research is needed (d).

   Moves that separate SL.11-12.1 from SL.9-10.1

   Move	Part	What it sounds like
   Probe reasoning	c	"How does that claim lead to this one?"
   Probe evidence	c	"What in the text shows that?"
   Ensure a hearing	c	"Which position haven't we heard yet?"
   Promote a divergent view	c	"How would someone outside this debate see it?"
   Synthesize	d	"Both sides agree that ..., and the real conflict is ..."
   Resolve a contradiction	d	"These fit together if we notice that ..."
   Name the research needed	d	"To settle this, we would need to know ..."

   Part 2: The texts under study. Booker T. Washington, the head of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, gave the address below at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta on September 18, 1895, and printed it in his autobiography Up from Slavery (1901). Eight years later, W. E. B. Du Bois answered it in "Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others," a chapter of The Souls of Black Folk (1903). Students read both the night before. The paragraphs are numbered so that speakers can cite them; "[...]" marks a cut.

   1A ship lost at sea for many days suddenly sighted a friendly vessel. From the mast of the unfortunate vessel was seen a signal, “Water, water; we die of thirst!” The answer from the friendly vessel at once came back, “Cast down your bucket where you are.” A second time the signal, “Water, water; send us water!” ran up from the distressed vessel, and was answered, “Cast down your bucket where you are.” And a third and fourth signal for water was answered, “Cast down your bucket where you are.” The captain of the distressed vessel, at last heeding the injunction, cast down his bucket, and it came up full of fresh, sparkling water from the mouth of the Amazon River. To those of my race who depend on bettering their condition in a foreign land or who underestimate the importance of cultivating friendly relations with the Southern white man, who is their next-door neighbour, I would say: “Cast down your bucket where you are”—cast it down in making friends in every manly way of the people of all races by whom we are surrounded.

   2Cast it down in agriculture, mechanics, in commerce, in domestic service, and in the professions. And in this connection it is well to bear in mind that whatever other sins the South may be called to bear, when it comes to business, pure and simple, it is in the South that the Negro is given a man’s chance in the commercial world, and in nothing is this Exposition more eloquent than in emphasizing this chance. Our greatest danger is that in the great leap from slavery to freedom we may overlook the fact that the masses of us are to live by the productions of our hands, and fail to keep in mind that we shall prosper in proportion as we learn to dignify and glorify common labour and put brains and skill into the common occupations of life; shall prosper in proportion as we learn to draw the line between the superficial and the substantial, the ornamental gewgaws of life and the useful. No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem. It is at the bottom of life we must begin, and not at the top. Nor should we permit our grievances to overshadow our opportunities.

   [...]

   3The wisest among my race understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremest folly, and that progress in the enjoyment of all the privileges that will come to us must be the result of severe and constant struggle rather than of artificial forcing. No race that has anything to contribute to the markets of the world is long in any degree ostracized. It is important and right that all privileges of the law be ours, but it is vastly more important that we be prepared for the exercises of these privileges. The opportunity to earn a dollar in a factory just now is worth infinitely more than the opportunity to spend a dollar in an opera-house.

   1In answer to this, it has been claimed that the Negro can survive only through submission. Mr. Washington distinctly asks that black people give up, at least for the present, three things,—

   2First, political power,

   3Second, insistence on civil rights,

   4Third, higher education of Negro youth,—and concentrate all their energies on industrial education, and accumulation of wealth, and the conciliation of the South. This policy has been courageously and insistently advocated for over fifteen years, and has been triumphant for perhaps ten years. As a result of this tender of the palm-branch, what has been the return? In these years there have occurred:

   51. The disfranchisement of the Negro.

   62. The legal creation of a distinct status of civil inferiority for the Negro.

   73. The steady withdrawal of aid from institutions for the higher training of the Negro.

   8These movements are not, to be sure, direct results of Mr. Washington’s teachings; but his propaganda has, without a shadow of doubt, helped their speedier accomplishment. The question then comes: Is it possible, and probable, that nine millions of men can make effective progress in economic lines if they are deprived of political rights, made a servile caste, and allowed only the most meagre chance for developing their exceptional men? If history and reason give any distinct answer to these questions, it is an emphatic No. And Mr. Washington thus faces the triple paradox of his career:

   91. He is striving nobly to make Negro artisans business men and property-owners; but it is utterly impossible, under modern competitive methods, for workingmen and property-owners to defend their rights and exist without the right of suffrage.

   102. He insists on thrift and self-respect, but at the same time counsels a silent submission to civic inferiority such as is bound to sap the manhood of any race in the long run.

   113. He advocates common-school and industrial training, and depreciates institutions of higher learning; but neither the Negro common-schools, nor Tuskegee itself, could remain open a day were it not for teachers trained in Negro colleges, or trained by their graduates.

   [...]

   12The black men of America have a duty to perform, a duty stern and delicate,—a forward movement to oppose a part of the work of their greatest leader. So far as Mr. Washington preaches Thrift, Patience, and Industrial Training for the masses, we must hold up his hands and strive with him, rejoicing in his honors and glorying in the strength of this Joshua called of God and of man to lead the headless host. But so far as Mr. Washington apologizes for injustice, North or South, does not rightly value the privilege and duty of voting, belittles the emasculating effects of caste distinctions, and opposes the higher training and ambition of our brighter minds,—so far as he, the South, or the Nation, does this,—we must unceasingly and firmly oppose them. By every civilized and peaceful method we must strive for the rights which the world accords to men, clinging unwaveringly to those great words which the sons of the Fathers would fain forget: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

   Part 3: A model teacher-led seminar. Read the transcript below (written for this page) aloud with volunteers. Pause after each worked example and ask students to name the move and the part of the standard.

   1Mr. Castillo: You've read both texts. Here's the question: in 1895, was Washington's advice wise, or was Du Bois right that it cost too much? Rosa, you volunteered to open.

   2Rosa: I'll start with Washington. He gave this speech at an exposition in Atlanta in 1895, to an audience that included white Southern business leaders. Paragraph 2 of his speech says, "It is at the bottom of life we must begin, and not at the top." In that setting, economic progress first was the realistic path.

   3Mr. Castillo: What's the reasoning that gets from "begin at the bottom" to equal rights later? What evidence does he offer that it would work?

   4Rosa: His claim is in paragraph 3: "No race that has anything to contribute to the markets of the world is long in any degree ostracized." Economic value leads to acceptance.

   5Dev: That's a prediction, though, not evidence. Du Bois answers it with what happened in the years after: paragraph 5 of his text is "The disfranchisement of the Negro." Economic progress didn't protect the vote.

   6Mr. Castillo: Let's verify before we build on that. Dev, does Du Bois say Washington caused it?

   7Dev: No, I overstated it. Paragraph 8 says these movements "are not, to be sure, direct results of Mr. Washington's teachings," only that his propaganda "helped their speedier accomplishment."

   8Mr. Castillo: Thank you for correcting that. We've heard a case for Washington and a case for Du Bois. Is there a position in the room we haven't heard yet? Grace?

   9Grace: Maybe they aren't simply opposites. In paragraph 12, Du Bois says that so far as Washington preaches thrift and industrial training, "we must hold up his hands and strive with him."

   10Rosa: But then isn't Du Bois contradicting himself? He calls Washington "their greatest leader" and says "we must unceasingly and firmly oppose" in the same paragraph.

   11Grace: I don't think so. "So far as" splits Washington's program in two. Du Bois backs the economic half and opposes the half that gives up voting, civil rights and higher education. "A part of the work" is his phrase.

   12Mr. Castillo: So let's synthesize. Across both texts and everything said today, which claims hold up, and where is the real conflict?

   13Dev: Both men want Black Southerners to build wealth and skills. The real conflict is about speaking up now. Washington says, "Nor should we permit our grievances to overshadow our opportunities," and Du Bois says injustice must be opposed "unceasingly."

   14Mr. Castillo: What would we need to find out to judge whether Washington's approach was wise?

   15Rosa: More than one speech. He was talking to a particular audience. If he said something different about voting in his letters or to Black audiences, that changes how we read "the extremest folly."

   16Mr. Castillo: Then that's our first research question. Grace and Dev, who takes which source?

   • A question that probes reasoning and evidence (paragraphs 3-4)

     Mr. Castillo: "What's the reasoning that gets from 'begin at the bottom' to equal rights later? What evidence does he offer that it would work?"

     Result: The question does not ask for an opinion; it asks how one claim leads to another and what supports the link. Rosa responds with the claim Washington relies on: "No race that has anything to contribute to the markets of the world is long in any degree ostracized."

   • Challenge, verify, correct (paragraphs 5-7)

     Dev calls Rosa's quotation "a prediction, though, not evidence" and cites Du Bois's list. Mr. Castillo asks, "does Du Bois say Washington caused it?"

     Result: Checking the text shows Dev overstated Du Bois, who writes that these movements "are not, to be sure, direct results" of Washington's teachings. Dev says "I overstated it" and restates the claim accurately. Verifying keeps a challenge honest, and correcting yourself in public is part of responding thoughtfully.

   • Ensuring a hearing for another position (paragraphs 8-9)

     Mr. Castillo: "Is there a position in the room we haven't heard yet? Grace?"

     Result: Two positions have been argued. The teacher asks for a third instead of letting the talk harden into a debate, and Grace offers one: the authors "aren't simply opposites," since Du Bois says "we must hold up his hands and strive with him."

   • Resolving an apparent contradiction (paragraphs 10-11)

     Rosa: Du Bois calls Washington "their greatest leader" and says "we must unceasingly and firmly oppose" in the same paragraph.

     Result: Grace resolves it with Du Bois's own wording: "So far as" divides Washington's program, and Du Bois opposes only "a part of the work." A contradiction that disappears under a distinction is resolved; one that survives it has to be stated as a real disagreement.

   • Synthesis, then the research still needed (paragraphs 12-15)

     Mr. Castillo: "which claims hold up, and where is the real conflict?" Then: "What would we need to find out?"

     Result: Dev states the common ground (wealth and skills) and the conflict (speaking up now: "Nor should we permit our grievances to overshadow our opportunities" against "unceasingly"). Rosa names the gap: one speech to one audience, so the class needs Washington's other writing before judging "the extremest folly."

   Close with Diagram 1. Ask students which points in it the seminar reached and which it did not. Stress that the seminar ends with an open question and a research plan, not a winner: in SL.11-12.1, knowing what is still unknown is a result.

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Groups of five read the transcript of a student-run group (written for this page) planning its research on the same question, each student taking one part. Groups mark every place where the speakers set a procedure, a goal, a deadline or a role, and every place where a position gets, or nearly misses, a hearing.

   1Amara: We have 20 minutes to agree on a research question and split up the work. The plan goes to Mr. Castillo at the end of class, and the research is due Thursday. I'll facilitate. Can we confirm roles?

   2Ben: I'll record. Lucia is keeping time, and Kwame offered to lead the research.

   3Amara: Tomás, would you be our skeptic today? Your job is to argue whatever side we're neglecting.

   4Tomás: Fine by me.

   5Amara: Here's how I suggest we decide. Each proposal gets two minutes with no interruptions, then we vote, one person, one vote. If there's a tie, we keep both questions.

   6Ben: Agreed. That's fair to everyone.

   7Kwame: My proposal: "Did Washington's approach help or hurt Black voting rights between 1895 and 1910?" Du Bois says Washington's propaganda "helped" the disfranchisement, so we could test that.

   8Lucia: Mine is about the speech itself: "Who was Washington's audience, and how did it shape what he could say?" In paragraph 1 he calls the Southern white man "their next-door neighbour." He's speaking to people with power over his listeners.

   9Ben: Kwame's is better. Can we just vote now?

   10Amara: Not yet. Tomás hasn't made his case, and we agreed that every proposal gets its two minutes.

   11Tomás: Here's the side nobody has raised. We keep asking who was right, Washington or Du Bois. What if the farmers and workers Washington said he spoke for disagreed with both of them? We haven't read a single one of their voices from 1895.

   12Lucia: That's a creative angle, but can we even find sources like that?

   13Kwame: Letters to Black newspapers from that year might work. We'd need that research for my question anyway.

   14Lucia: One minute left.

   15Amara: Then let's vote. Hands up for each proposal, and Ben records the count.

   16Ben: Kwame's question wins with three votes; Lucia's and Tomás's get one each. The plan: Kwame and I find voting records by Tuesday, Lucia and Tomás look for 1895 reactions in Black newspapers by Wednesday, and Amara drafts our summary for Thursday.

   Debrief with three questions. (1) What made the group's decision democratic? The procedure was set before anyone argued (paragraph 5), every proposal got the same two minutes, and each person had one vote. (2) Where did the group nearly fail to hear a position, and who stopped it? In paragraph 9, Ben asks to vote before Tomás has spoken, and Amara holds the group to its own rule. (3) What did the skeptic role add? Tomás raises a perspective neither author offers, and it turns into a research task in the final plan. Ask students whether Ben's count adds up: five members, three votes and one and one.

4. Independent Practice15-20 minutes

   Students read the transcript of a one-on-one discussion (written for this page) between two partners preparing for the seminar. They answer quiz questions 1-10 on their own with the transcript and both texts open, then questions 11-20, which apply the standard to new situations and ask them to write their own discussion moves.

   1Imani: I'll start with something I found last night. In the same chapter we read from, Du Bois calls Washington's speech the "Atlanta Compromise." That label is already an argument.

   2Owen: Why is a label an argument?

   3Imani: A compromise means both sides give something up. So here's my question: in the parts we read, what does Washington ask his white listeners to give up?

   4Owen: Nothing, as far as I can see. Every duty in paragraph 3 falls on his own race. It is "vastly more important that we be prepared."

   5Imani: But doesn't he contradict himself in that paragraph? He says, "It is important and right that all privileges of the law be ours," and he also says agitating for "social equality is the extremest folly."

   6Owen: I don't think it's a contradiction. He separates "privileges of the law" from "social equality." He calls the legal ones right; what he argues about is how and when to get them: "severe and constant struggle rather than of artificial forcing."

   7Imani: Okay, that resolves part of it. But why does he think a dollar earned in a factory matters more than a dollar spent in an opera-house? What's the reasoning?

   8Owen: I think the opera-house stands for the social equality he just set aside. His reasoning is that earning comes before enjoying, but only "just now." Those two words make it a claim about timing, not a permanent rule.

   9Imani: Du Bois would say the timing argument fails. Paragraph 9 of his text says it is "utterly impossible" for property-owners "to defend their rights and exist without the right of suffrage."

   10Owen: So they share a goal, property and progress, and split on whether the vote has to come first. And to be fair to Du Bois's side, he isn't against practical schooling; paragraph 11 points out that even Tuskegee depends on "teachers trained in Negro colleges."

   11Imani: So what would we need to know to decide who's right about the vote?

   12Owen: What happened to Black landowners in places where they lost the vote. If their property stayed safe, that helps Washington. If it didn't, that helps Du Bois.

   13Imani: Then let's split it before Thursday's seminar. I'll look for census figures on Black farm ownership from 1900 to 1910. You find out when Georgia and Alabama took the vote away.

5. Closure5-10 minutes

   Exit ticket: "Write one contradiction or conflict from today's texts that you think can be resolved, and one that cannot. For the second, name the information that would help." Use the tickets to seed the synthesis board in Activity 3.

   Teacher note on language and framing. Both texts use the terms of their time, including "Negro" (the standard term in their era, now dated), gendered wording such as "manly," "manhood" and "emasculating," and charged phrases such as "servile caste" and "headless host," and they are quoted exactly as printed. Say this before students read. Frame the discussion as a debate about strategy in 1895 and 1903, when Black Southerners faced violence and the loss of the vote, not as a debate about whether anyone deserved equal rights; both authors assume that they did. Keep the discussion about the texts and their reasoning, and let students decline to speak for any group.

   Homework. Explain that tonight students research, hold a one-on-one discussion with a classmate who sees the question differently, and write a synthesis and a group plan. Show them the directions and rubric.

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In paragraph 1 of the partner transcript, how does Imani draw on her preparation to open the discussion?

   AShe summarizes the whole Washington excerpt before asking Owen anything BShe announces the decision the pair will present at Thursday's seminar CShe reports a detail she found in the Du Bois chapter and turns it into a claim DShe asks Owen to choose the topic because he read more of the texts

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Imani asks, "in the parts we read, what does Washington ask his white listeners to give up?" (paragraph 3). Why is this a question that probes reasoning?

   AIt tests whether the word "compromise" fits by asking for evidence of what each side gives BIt asks Owen to recall the date and place of the speech CIt asks Owen to vote on which author is right DIt changes the subject from Washington to Du Bois

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   How does Owen respond to Imani's question in paragraph 4?

   AHe refuses to answer until Imani explains her own view BHe agrees with Du Bois and quotes the Declaration of Independence CHe changes the question to one about Tuskegee's funding DHe answers directly and supports the answer with a phrase from paragraph 3 of the speech

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In paragraph 5, Imani quotes from two sentences in paragraph 3 of Washington's speech. What move is she making?

   ASummarizing the points on which she and Owen agree BChallenging Washington's consistency by pointing to an apparent contradiction CAssigning Owen a research task for the seminar DVerifying that Owen's quotation appears in the text

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   How does Owen deal with the apparent contradiction in paragraph 6?

   AHe resolves it by showing that Washington separates legal privileges from "social equality" BHe admits that Washington simply contradicts himself and drops the point CHe argues that the second sentence was added by a later editor DHe says the contradiction does not matter because the speech was popular

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In paragraph 8, Owen explains the factory and opera-house sentence. Which detail of Washington's wording does he use to answer Imani's probing question?

   AThe word "infinitely," which he says proves the claim with numbers BThe phrase "the Amazon River," which he connects to trade CThe words "just now," which he says make it a claim about timing DThe word "dollar," which he says shows the speech is about banking

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   What does Imani do in paragraph 9?

   AShe gives up her earlier challenge and agrees with Washington BShe brings in the other side's claim to test Owen's timing reading CShe asks Owen to define "suffrage" before she goes on DShe calls for the pair to end the discussion and write their plan

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In paragraph 10, Owen says the two authors "share a goal, property and progress, and split on whether the vote has to come first." Which part of SL.11-12.1 does this sentence show?

   ASetting clear goals and deadlines for the group BEstablishing individual roles for the seminar CPromoting a creative perspective that neither author holds DSynthesizing the claims and evidence on both sides of the issue

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Owen adds, "to be fair to Du Bois's side, he isn't against practical schooling" and cites paragraph 11. Why is this move valuable in a discussion?

   AIt makes sure the opposing position is heard in its strongest form, not as a caricature BIt proves that Du Bois and Washington agreed on every point CIt shows that Owen has changed sides and now supports Du Bois DIt ends the discussion by declaring Du Bois the winner

10. Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which statement best describes paragraphs 11-13 of the partner transcript?

    AThe partners decide that the question cannot be answered and drop it BThe partners vote on which author was right and record the result CThe partners name the information that would settle their open question and divide the research DThe partners agree to repeat the same discussion at the seminar

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    A group of six must choose one position to present on Washington's strategy. Four members favor one position, and two say their view has not been heard. Which procedure is most civil and democratic?

    ALet the four decide now, since a majority has already formed BHold the vote only after the two present their case and a member of the majority restates it to their satisfaction CAsk the teacher to choose so that nobody feels outvoted DSplit into two groups so that the disagreement never has to be discussed

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    A group has three class periods to prepare a seminar on the two texts. Which plan sets clear goals, deadlines and individual roles?

    AEveryone reads more about the topic and we see where we are next week BWe will all work hard on research and try to finish before the seminar COur leader will decide who does what once we know more about the topic DBy Tuesday, two members each bring three sources; by Wednesday, one drafts questions; by Thursday, one leads the synthesis

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    In a group discussion, all five members agree within two minutes that Du Bois was right. Which move best promotes divergent and creative perspectives?

    AAsk each member to argue how a Black teacher in a rural Alabama school in 1900 would have seen the question BCongratulate the group on reaching consensus quickly and end early CAsk the member who spoke first to repeat the argument more loudly DChange the topic to a different speech the group has not read

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    In a teacher-led seminar, a student says, "Du Bois is obviously right." Which follow-up question from the teacher best probes the student's reasoning and evidence?

    A"Does everyone agree with that?" B"Which sentence in Du Bois answers Washington's claim in paragraph 3, and why is it stronger?" C"Can someone else share an opinion now?" D"Why do you always side with the critic?"

15. Question 15 of 20 · Short Answer

    Write one question that probes the reasoning or evidence behind Washington's sentence "No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem" (paragraph 2 of his speech). Then explain in one sentence what an answer would have to show.

    Show model answer

16. Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer

    Reread the group transcript (Transcript 2). In three or four sentences, synthesize the three research proposals: name each one, say what they have in common, and say where they differ.

    Show model answer

17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    You are facilitating a group of five. One member keeps interrupting and another has not spoken. In two or three sentences, write exactly what you would say to keep the discussion civil and democratic, set a goal with a deadline, and give each of the two members a role.

    Show model answer

18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    In a teacher-led seminar, a classmate says, "Washington sold out his people." Write a response of three or four sentences that responds thoughtfully to the claim, cites evidence from both texts, and states your own view clearly and persuasively.

    Show model answer

19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    Washington writes that "whatever other sins the South may be called to bear," it is in the South "that the Negro is given a man's chance in the commercial world" (paragraph 2 of his speech). Is this a contradiction? Explain whether it can be resolved.

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    Du Bois claims that Washington's "propaganda" "helped their speedier accomplishment" (paragraph 8 of his text). Name one piece of additional information that would help you judge this claim, and explain how you would find it.

    Show model answer

These standards connect to SL.11-12.1: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.

Standard text: Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.